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After

Orbitsville

Bob Shaw1975

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi

1 more ↓

  • Bowl of Heaven

    Larry Niven2012

    Astronauts traveling to a new star system discover a massive, half-shell megastructure and are captured by its avian inhabitants.

    earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Shadow & Claw

    Gene Wolfe1983

    A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    earnest → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

    William S. Burroughs

    A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Starplex

    Robert J. Sawyer1996

    The crew of a research vessel investigates a mysterious ship and the origins of a network of artificial wormholes.

    Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Android's Dream

    John Scalzi2006

    A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.

    earnest → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • All Systems Red

    Martha Wells2017

    A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

    earnest → wry, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    earnest → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    earnest → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

    Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950

    An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Children of Memory

    Adrian Tchaikovsky2023

    Advanced humans and uplifted animals observe a failing colony on a harsh planet. The story explores memory and the nature of consciousness.

    earnest → meditative, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • White Mars, or, The mind set free

    Brian W. Aldiss1999

    A group of scientists and thinkers attempts to establish a utopian society on Mars after Earth is cut off by a global catastrophe.

    Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    earnest → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Echopraxia

    Peter Watts2014

    A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

    earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2